The Aztec Princess Who Saw the Future From the Grave

How Princess Papantzin foresaw the end of the Aztec civilization

Princess Papantzin | 1880 oil on canvass painting by Isidro Martinez | Museo de Bellas Artes de Toluca, Mexico

Moctezuma II was the last ruler of the Aztec Empire. He was killed during the Spanish Conquest in 1520.

But 11 years before the violent end of his civilization and life, he was warned. His sister-in-law, Princess Papantzin, had a very detailed and accurate vision of what awaited the Aztecs.

Princess Papantzin

Papantzin was a princess from Texcoco, a powerful and prestigious Acolhua city-state in the central Mexican plateau, second only to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.

Moctezuma II, the ruler of the Aztec Empire, had a clever diplomatic approach to maintaining power. He would marry his male relatives to the daughters of potential rival kings from sister-cultures.

Papantzin was the grand-daughter of the Texcocoan ruler, Nezahualpilli. So in a chess move of diplomacy, she was married off to one of Moctezuma’s brothers.

In 1509, Papantzin fell ill. Soon, she slipped into a coma.

Everyone thought she died. They started funeral preparations.

The Aztec tradition was to burn their dead. However, Papantzin was from Texcoco. There, the…